Sunday, April 26, 2015
Duke
In case you haven't met Duke, the Angus bull. He's an October 2012 model, sire of this year's calf crop which looks good, and in the process of creating next year's...
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Spring Update 2
Cattle, continued
Completing the previous status, I got them sorted into breeding pastures and put the Angus bull in with his girls yesterday. He had a big smile on his face today. Lambert still has to wait on the result of one test, but speaks lovingly to the cows (and heifers--his daughters!) who come up to visit. He probably has another week to wait.
Austin's and Travis's cows are 2 of the old ones I need to sell, so here are the 2014 heifers that now wear the green and orange.
Weather
Over the weekend there were 2 nights where strong storm fronts lined up all the way from south Texas into Oklahoma or Kansas, moved through threateningly, and we got nearly no rain. Last night, for a change, a relatively small storm system (left) had us squarely in its sights (right) and we got 2.7" in a heavy 2-hour downpour.
The tanks are nearly full, Sycamore creek roared for a while, and people are walking around smiling. It's not a drouth-buster but it's a welcome prelude to summer.
Chickens
The chickens continue to thrive and their winter-diminished egg production is ramping back up. We originally ordered 10 Rhode Island Red hens as day-old chicks in April 2013, figuring we'd surely have some loss to disease, dogs, varmints and mysterious causes. I celebrated their 2-year birthday today by feeding them--all 10 of them!--their favorite snack, a big bunch of grapes.
We could undoubtedly go to the store and buy eggs for less money and less effort than these birds cost us, but their urgent clucks when I let their feeder run low and their joyful noise and excitement when chasing grasshoppers (or grapes) are priceless.
The eggs are just a bonus.
Life is good. Come on down and we'll have steak and eggs for breakfast.
Completing the previous status, I got them sorted into breeding pastures and put the Angus bull in with his girls yesterday. He had a big smile on his face today. Lambert still has to wait on the result of one test, but speaks lovingly to the cows (and heifers--his daughters!) who come up to visit. He probably has another week to wait.
Weather
Chickens
We could undoubtedly go to the store and buy eggs for less money and less effort than these birds cost us, but their urgent clucks when I let their feeder run low and their joyful noise and excitement when chasing grasshoppers (or grapes) are priceless.
The eggs are just a bonus.
Life is good. Come on down and we'll have steak and eggs for breakfast.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Spring Update
When I let enough time go by between posts, it's a daunting job to consider an update. Just about the time I was considering abandoning the blog, possibly in favor of Facebook, Pete complained that he missed the blog posts and motivated me to write a Spring status. There's a lot to write so I'll do reports from the various farm enterprises, starting off with...
Cattle
Spring calving is complete. We had 21 of 22 planned 2015 calves, all in a 60-day calving period except for one outlier (by 3 weeks) and one very old cow who tested open. The bulls were our Polled Hereford from Kansas, Lambert, and a new Angus bull we bought last year in Meridian. Both did their jobs and the calf crop looks good. One heifer required assistance, probably due to being a little bit small and a little bit young. I should have held her back, but she and the calf are fine. Considering the number of heifers we're keeping we're doing very well. We sold Lambert in November since this Spring his first daughters are of breeding age. It was a year too soon, actually, and since I hadn't found a replacement and his new owner's cows are all bred, we borrowed him back for one more season. In the next couple of days we'll separate the cows and put them in their breeding pastures, get the bulls' Breeding Soundness Evaluation results, and let the romance begin.
We have some old cows to sell at weaning this summer so, since I was replacing both bulls, we kept nine 2014 heifers to replace them. A couple of them might still be a little small so I'm toying with the idea of breeding them for Fall 2016 calving, possibly using Artificial Insemination since I've learned the new vet will help us get it done. Our number of cows to calve should start creeping back up toward 30 if pasture conditions stay good. If it starts to dry up, we can sell a couple of the bred heifers and just slow down our buildup.
They look good, lying in grass tall enough to hide the calves. These shots are taken in the grass above the oat field. The oats started to head out at a pretty short height and we have lots of hay left, so we decided to graze them. All the cows have been here at the house, rotating themselves daily between the oats and the grass pastures, since we vaccinated calves on March 28. The grass in the big pasture is enjoying the rest, and we'll move the Baldie herd down there this week.
We have 4 young (14 months) bulls for sale. People would like to have them 18 months when they put them out to breed, which is one of the reasons I'm considering Fall calving a few cows, but I'm confident they'll sell eventually. We're shopping for a Polled Hereford bull ourselves, to replace Lambert and sire some more replacement females. Good bulls in general are at a premium and ones with the genetics we want are pretty scarce.
I'll report on the other activities soon. Life is good. Come on down and cowboy with us.
Cattle
Spring calving is complete. We had 21 of 22 planned 2015 calves, all in a 60-day calving period except for one outlier (by 3 weeks) and one very old cow who tested open. The bulls were our Polled Hereford from Kansas, Lambert, and a new Angus bull we bought last year in Meridian. Both did their jobs and the calf crop looks good. One heifer required assistance, probably due to being a little bit small and a little bit young. I should have held her back, but she and the calf are fine. Considering the number of heifers we're keeping we're doing very well. We sold Lambert in November since this Spring his first daughters are of breeding age. It was a year too soon, actually, and since I hadn't found a replacement and his new owner's cows are all bred, we borrowed him back for one more season. In the next couple of days we'll separate the cows and put them in their breeding pastures, get the bulls' Breeding Soundness Evaluation results, and let the romance begin.
 |
| Lambert |
We have 4 young (14 months) bulls for sale. People would like to have them 18 months when they put them out to breed, which is one of the reasons I'm considering Fall calving a few cows, but I'm confident they'll sell eventually. We're shopping for a Polled Hereford bull ourselves, to replace Lambert and sire some more replacement females. Good bulls in general are at a premium and ones with the genetics we want are pretty scarce.
I'll report on the other activities soon. Life is good. Come on down and cowboy with us.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
A Good Lie
As far as Kathy knew, Holly and Lawrence were coming home just in time for Holly's mission trip to Guatemala on the 14th. In truth, with help from Amy and just a few white lies, they arrived the evening of the 2nd in time to help celebrate her LXVII birthday (Super Bowl ain't got nothing on her) Tuesday the 3rd.
We kidnapped her from work and went to George's for lunch and a drink, and then home to catch up on the past few months. It was a good lie.
We kidnapped her from work and went to George's for lunch and a drink, and then home to catch up on the past few months. It was a good lie.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Shoulder Work Ahead
The rotator cuff surgery on my right shoulder went so well last year and I feel so much better, that I'm having the left one done tomorrow. Amy is on her way down to do my chores for a while, and Jeff just spent a few days here cutting firewood and helping me finish Fall projects and get Christmas preparations started. Thanks to my family for putting up with my aging.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Thanksgiving
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Fall Update
My favorite month is September, because that's when my birthday is and it's usually when we get the first little cold front that promises cooler weather isn't far away. But it always turns hot again, and if I could move my birthday into October I would, because that's when Fall really feels within reach, Summer projects need to be finished up and firewood needs to be cut and stacked. Now it's November, it's cool and raining, and we'll have a fire tonight as I crack pecans and watch the Country Music Awards.
Cattle
The Pacesetter calves have sold for an excellent price, for delivery next week. Our 8 steers have stayed healthy, not requiring any medication that would disqualify them from the All Natural program, and have gained well on a reasonable amount of feed and good grass. In fact, due mainly to the great weaning weights we had this year, 3 of them were actually overweight when I weighed them last week and I had to negotiate a slightly lower price for them. The replacement heifers and little bulls are looking good too. I sold 3 of the oldest cows including Austin's green-tagged 215 so one of the heifers will get a green tag. 215 had a daughter this year, so she's my suggestion, but Austin can pick at Thanksgiving if he wants to. We'll vaccinate the cows soon, and sit back to wait for calves in February.
Hay and Grass
We've finished baling this year's hay, getting 2 cuttings from all the fields except the Sycamore which Larry elected to graze rather than bale (since we already had plenty of hay). I've cleaned up the baler and put it away, and have some repairs to make on the cutter and rake before I do the same for them. The oats I planted have sprung up, and it's great to be getting some rain on them. The pasture grass is still providing some grazing and, although it will benefit from the rain, we'll probably start feeding hay soon. It was a good year for grass in Lanham, with some nicely timed rains in June and July that some areas didn't get.
Horses
Cowtown and Sugarfoot are on diets. They've both developed a "cresty" neck which can be indicative of a metabolic syndrome and increased tendency toward laminitis, or founder. Poor old Brandy used to founder and it can't be pleasant, so I'm trying to steer the horses and myself away from metabolic syndrome. Angelfire reminds us a lot of Amy--pretty, but kind of bossy (especially around feeding time).
Chickens
The 10 hens still patrol the farm, protecting us from grasshoppers and worms and providing entertainment. Sometimes we just sit out on the Gator and watch the funny things they do. Egg production is off a little, maybe due to the change of season. We get about 5 a day but Zane's have completely stopped laying.
Pecans
The pecan trees are starting to deliver. The load on the little tree in the front yard was so big I thought some limbs might break--I need to prune it this winter. The tree in the back has smaller, thicker-shelled pecans I generally don't bother to pick up; Bodie and Harley, however, enjoy bringing them up to the porch, cracking them and eating them. The porch is littered with pecan shells almost every day. I picked up a few pecans from the native trees down by the tank. They're small but very tasty. The trees in front of Amy's house are loaded and will start dropping soon too. I have about 3 quarts already, so pecan pie bakers are encouraged.
Family
We're looking forward to Thanksgiving on November 24 with almost the whole family. I'll have plenty of chores on a list for anyone who wants to work, and there should be plenty of food, firewood and football for anyone who doesn't. Life is good. Hurry on down and see us.
Cattle
The Pacesetter calves have sold for an excellent price, for delivery next week. Our 8 steers have stayed healthy, not requiring any medication that would disqualify them from the All Natural program, and have gained well on a reasonable amount of feed and good grass. In fact, due mainly to the great weaning weights we had this year, 3 of them were actually overweight when I weighed them last week and I had to negotiate a slightly lower price for them. The replacement heifers and little bulls are looking good too. I sold 3 of the oldest cows including Austin's green-tagged 215 so one of the heifers will get a green tag. 215 had a daughter this year, so she's my suggestion, but Austin can pick at Thanksgiving if he wants to. We'll vaccinate the cows soon, and sit back to wait for calves in February.
Hay and Grass
We've finished baling this year's hay, getting 2 cuttings from all the fields except the Sycamore which Larry elected to graze rather than bale (since we already had plenty of hay). I've cleaned up the baler and put it away, and have some repairs to make on the cutter and rake before I do the same for them. The oats I planted have sprung up, and it's great to be getting some rain on them. The pasture grass is still providing some grazing and, although it will benefit from the rain, we'll probably start feeding hay soon. It was a good year for grass in Lanham, with some nicely timed rains in June and July that some areas didn't get.
Horses
Cowtown and Sugarfoot are on diets. They've both developed a "cresty" neck which can be indicative of a metabolic syndrome and increased tendency toward laminitis, or founder. Poor old Brandy used to founder and it can't be pleasant, so I'm trying to steer the horses and myself away from metabolic syndrome. Angelfire reminds us a lot of Amy--pretty, but kind of bossy (especially around feeding time).
Chickens
The 10 hens still patrol the farm, protecting us from grasshoppers and worms and providing entertainment. Sometimes we just sit out on the Gator and watch the funny things they do. Egg production is off a little, maybe due to the change of season. We get about 5 a day but Zane's have completely stopped laying.
Pecans
The pecan trees are starting to deliver. The load on the little tree in the front yard was so big I thought some limbs might break--I need to prune it this winter. The tree in the back has smaller, thicker-shelled pecans I generally don't bother to pick up; Bodie and Harley, however, enjoy bringing them up to the porch, cracking them and eating them. The porch is littered with pecan shells almost every day. I picked up a few pecans from the native trees down by the tank. They're small but very tasty. The trees in front of Amy's house are loaded and will start dropping soon too. I have about 3 quarts already, so pecan pie bakers are encouraged.
Family
We're looking forward to Thanksgiving on November 24 with almost the whole family. I'll have plenty of chores on a list for anyone who wants to work, and there should be plenty of food, firewood and football for anyone who doesn't. Life is good. Hurry on down and see us.
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